Our View: Illinois has a success story and that's the tourism industry

By The Editorial Board

Tuesday

May 9, 2017 at 4:19 PMMay 9, 2017 at 11:24 PM

For a good time — come to Illinois.

People are getting that message and responding by coming to Illinois in record numbers.

Politics aside, and even that can be quite entertaining at times, the state has a lot going for it. There’s a lot to see and do from South Beloit all the way down to Cairo and from Chicago to Galena. It’s a big state with nearly 13 million people who know how to have — and host — a good time.

There are historic sites, great museums, music festivals and plenty of state parks that can satisfy your craving for all things outdoors. The state has diverse options for a vacation, a long weekend or a daytrip.

Tourism is one of the few things in Illinois that is looking good. Numbers released Monday showed 110 million tourists visited the state last year, a more than 1 million increase compared to 2015.

Most of those visitors came to have fun: 83 percent came for leisure and 17 percent came for business.

And, those visitors stayed longer and spent money while they were here. The Illinois Office of Tourism said the average stay lasted about 3 percent longer than 2015, which is better than the national increase of 2.4 percent.

Visitors to Illinois invested $35 billion in the state’s economy in 2016. In the past two years, Illinois has created 20,000 tourism-related jobs, according to a news release from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office. Every $1 invested in tourism in Illinois generates $9 in economic impact.

“This is another example that in areas where we can improve the economy, our administration is moving forward,” Rauner said in a statement. “Illinois is the greatest state in the nation. We have so much to be proud of and so many reasons to invite our out-of-state friends to visit the Land of Lincoln.”

To move tourism forward, the state has produced “Up for Amazing” television commercials that began airing in March and were scheduled to appear in 13 Midwestern markets and overseas starting this spring and running through July. There will be new ads for the fall and winter. The state will spend $15 million to market the campaign globally, a worthy investment considering the return it should bring.

"Each ad features travelers experiencing iconic Illinois destinations: a road trip along Route 66 and the Great River Road, President Lincoln historic sites in Springfield, views of Galena Main Street, outdoor destinations like Starved Rock State Park and Chicago destinations like Millennium Park, North Avenue Beach and Wrigley Field," according to Enjoy Illinois, the state tourism website.

“According to our research, 78 percent of millennials today prefer to learn something new when traveling — they value experiences much more than things,” Cory Jobe, director of the Illinois Office of Tourism says on the website. “Our goal with the new ‘Up For Amazing’ ad campaign is to differentiate from the competition by creating a more engaging, challenging message that acts as a call to action, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves in Illinois’ unique cultures and return with amazing new experiences they will feel compelled to share, both in person and on social media.”

We think it would be better yet if “Enjoy Illinois” became a weekly television show such as “Discover Wisconsin,” which began airing in 1986 and is the nation’s longest running tourism show. Wisconsin saw 3.5 percent growth in 2016 while visitors spent more than $12 billion, the seventh straight year of tourism spending growth.

Tourism is big business no matter what side of the state line you live on.

Chicago was a big winner in 2016 and we're not referring to the Cubs. The Windy City saw 54.1 million visitors in 2016 and is doing even better this year (wish the Cubs were). In the first quarter of 2017, 10.5 million people came to Chicago, a 3.5 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016.

Tourism numbers are encouraging, but let's not forget that Illinois has lost more residents than any other state for three straight years. Maybe some of those folks are coming back to visit.

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